His Own Scar
by Forever Frosted
Summary: The carver was his drunken dad. But Wally's dad had carved much more things than just a lightning bolt scar on his chest. Contains child abuse, bromance, some Spitfire and awesome Uncle Barry. Cover by Twaxer!
1. Chapter 1

_**His own scar.**_

_**Careful, abused Wally here. Don't say I didn't warn you. It's most likely to appear in future chapters too.**_

_**I'm not sure if I should change this to M instead of T. Thoughts?  
**_

**I don't own YJ, but I do own the shovel I use to bash canon up with :3**

* * *

When you meet Kid Flash, or rather, Wally West, you were greeted by corny jokes, mischievous smiles, pranks around every corner and (if you happen to be female) not-so-subtle flirtatious behaviour.*

When you got to know Wally, he was the reason you were laughing after a hard day, most likely from embarrassing himself.

'_But no ones __really__ gotten to know me,' _Wally thought, standing in front of his full body-length mirror, standing in only track pants. And if someone where to walk in at that moment, they wouldn't notice his bright red hair, his saddened green eyes or even his eight pack.

No, they'd notice the ugly bolt shaped scar on his chest- exactly in the same place his bolt was placed on his uniform.

He watched in the mirror as his middle left finger traced the outline of the four year old bolt. Four years ago he had just met _The_ Flash, the awesomest hero _ever!_ Being caught up in excitement, he realized his mistake too late.

"_He's so nice, mum! He actually talked to me! Me, mum!" Wally ranted, knowing he was now 11 years old and sounding like a little hyper kid. The Flash was just some awesome! His mother laughed, a delicate, sweet sound, "I'm so glad you got the meet him," She was proud of her son, knowing he deserved something better in his life. Flash was hopefully that something. Her son was the brightest bundle of energy with good grades, good friends and just a good kid._

"_- He's just so awesome! I wish Flash was my dad!"  
That was his mistake._

_His dad stormed in, hearing the last part in a drunken rage. "What was that, you ungrateful brat?" Rudy spat. "I-I didn't mean it, d-dad! I-It just slipped out, h-honest!" Wally stuttered, backing away in fear. His dad was becoming more aggressive. His mother wrapped protective arms around him, "Please, Rudy!" She sobbed, pleading as her husband pulled out a sharp kitchen knife. "Well if you want to be the bastard's son, how about we just carve you to be so?" Rudy advanced._

_Within minutes, Mary was slumped on the couch, unconscious from a blow to the head. Wally was sobbing, gasping in pain between sobs and screams as his father held him down. The screams just encouraged Rudy to cut deeper._

_Crimson stained the white tiles._

The cut had actually been carved into _again_ when he was 13- a year after becoming a speedster himself and his uncle's sidekick. By that time, custody had already been handed to Barry and Iris, his aunt and uncle. His 'dad' had fooled him to come over for a chat. Wally had fallen for it. Rudy had carved into the scar again as his son struggled against the ropes which held him to the barstool chair in the kitchen. And once again, the house was filled with screams, sobs, gasps of pains and horrible, horrible insults. His dad had also added a ring around the bleeding wound, but his speed healing had left it with a very pale to baby pink skin instead of an ugly brown scar. "Our little secret, promise?" His father whispered to the gasping boy, untying him. Wally kept the secret, not a single soul knew about it except himself and his father.

Wally sighed as his phone alarm blared out for 3:33 PM. The ugly scar was now, officially, carved 5 years ago. Exactly 5 years ago, he remembered his father walking away triumphantly as Wally sobbed, the pain just so intense. He remembered looking up to see the clock which showed the digits of 3:33- an unusual time, but so easy to remember. Wally had lasted through the beating for a whole hour.

And for the past hour, Wally had been tracing the scar- lost in memories of constant beatings, the carving, sobs, pain and blood_._ _So much blood._

His hand slumped and he turned from the mirror as he picked up his phone, turning the alarm off. He realized he was shaking as he had trouble turning off the alarm. Breathing deeply, he put a shirt over his head and the mask returned.

Oh, how a smile and a few jokes could hide something so terrible.

"Where the hell is Baywatch?" Artemis asked to the training room, noting that the speedster was missing 2 hours of training with Canary. They all still had another 45 minutes to go. Zatanna, Conner and M'gann all simply responded with shrugs. Robin and Kaldur didn't answer, too focused in the midst of the sparring. So Dinah was left to answer.

"Wally has asked to miss this training session for personal reasons. Personal reasons which you should respect." Dinah told her, folding her arms and Artemis frowned. Personal reasons? Baywatch never kept secrets and he seemed as open as a dodgy locker. She thought he'd be the one that kept the _least_ secrets, after all. Nodding, she watched as Robin's ninja-ness seemed to be winning over Kaldur's, but the fight was ended and they shook hands, respectively.

The fight was ended due to Batman popping up on screen, "Team, we have reports of suspicious behaviour near the ports in Gotham. Usually, I would handle this, but matters need me somewhere else. That's why we need you to go check out the reports. It is most likely a drug deal, so do _not_ engage in any combat. Observe and report, is that understood?" Batman's voice didn't waver from the coolness but yet hauntingly tone.

Kaldur nodded, "Understood, Batman."

"Good, sending co-ordinations now." Batman's cowl was replaced by a map of the docks, and a small blinking beacon was shown near the waters edge.

"Received." Kaldur responded, and the image was cut off. They stood there for a few moments.

"So, we going or what?"

The voice made them all turn around, seeing the red-headed speedster standing there, arms folded and eyebrow raised in question. His foot was tapping impatiently. No one had heard him enter.

Robin felt proud.

One bio-ship ride later, the Team were positioned in assigned locations. They had been paired off, all except for Robin, aka Prince of Gotham. Kaldur with Conner, M'gann with Zatanna, Wally with Artemis. Wally and Artemis had been assigned with patrol and guard.

They sat in silence, Wally's goggles over his eyes as they looked down at the commotion. Robin was the most reliable to get the closest and had dismissed going in pairs, saying any one of them would just hold him back.

They sat for a few more moments, before Artemis shifted like she was unsure of something. Wally didn't make any move of making her more comfortable, though.

"So… Personal issues, huh?" Artemis asked, turning her head slightly.

Wally tensed slightly, but relaxed a few seconds later, "What?" He was honestly hoping he heard wrong. He didn't need Artemis of all people asking him questions.

"You heard me, Baywatch. You missed training with Black _Canary's_ permission." Artemis turned to look at him, watching as his eyes were clearly showing he was calculating something, even through the lens of the goggles.

"Is it any of your business?" Wally admitted he came off harsher than he meant to, but before Artemis could reply, they felt the familiar mind link open.

M'gann's voice was urgent.

"_Team, we've come across a problem_."

* * *

* I'm an Australian, shut up Grammar check. That's how we spell it x]

By the way, this is NOT proofread. It should be... After I proofread my list of other things xDD

Woo! Typed this after I spent my 8 hours at my grandparents writing :D

I hope you all enjoyed this ^-^ Anyway, reviews are always loved (and ALWAYS replied to.)

Thank you so much for reading :3

_~Kayla_


	2. Chapter 2

The amount of reviews, alerts and favourites has amazed me. Thank you so much guys! Most of this speech is done telepathically. In fact, it all is unless otherwise said.

**I don't own YJ. Duh xD**

_**Credit and dedication goes to GhostDog401 ! See why at the bottom, please :) !**_

* * *

"_Team, we've come across a problem_."

* * *

"What? Are you okay M'gann?" Conner's concerned voices filled their minds and Wally shifted slightly, tensing a bit at Conner's strong voice.

"I'm fine. But I've done a mind sweep of the guards and they have a particular plan in their mind. A particular plan of where to step, exactly."

"Pressure bombs," The Boy Wonder figured, groaning. Why else would the guard's be walking around so cautiously with a walking _plan?_

"Yes, they're planted all around. Mostly around and in the entrance." M'gann commented.

"And setting off one will cause a chain-reaction." Kaldur groaned mentally, allowing the entire team to hear and feel how frustrating this may turn out to be.

"I can fly over them," M'gann offered.

"As long as you use camouflage," Robin added, then another thought hit. "They probably have other bombs that can be activated manually. They'll probably make them go off the second they see us."

"So you're saying they have security cameras?" Wally guessed.

"Exactly what I'm saying." Robin answered.

"So only M'gann can do this?" Kaldur asked, a bit unsure of sending her in alone. Sure, she was visibly strong, but you never knew what you were facing. It was dangerous doing things solo. Exactly why they were all in pairs…. Well, not including Robin.

Robin hesitated, "Wally could probably pull it off as well. But the camera would pick it up,"

"So you're saying we need to be in the spotlight?" Zatanna's voice came in. Artemis was surprisingly remaining silent until, "I can shoot some of them from here. Especially the ones around the corner where Kid Mouth here can run in. The rest you'll have to handle," She offered.

"What? Wouldn't they pick it up?" Wally frowned, knowing only Artemis could see it. "And why exactly do we need to go in there?"

"Because we're observing, Kid Idiot. It includes _where the drugs actually are._" Artemis said cockily.

"Not if you're fast enough." Robin said sheepishly, ignoring Artemis's statement and answering Wally's question.

"Awesome," Wally mumbled aloud.

"I could also send you the walking plan and allow you to avoid as many bombs as possible." With that, Wally braced himself for the slaughter of the image and studied it. "Alright," He answered, bracing himself as Artemis shot an arrow at a silent command.

Robin's crackle was heard and a green and red blinking light caught Wally's attention, and he turned his head slightly to see the Batarang's land perfectly on the cameras. Including the ones Wally couldn't see. They exploded, but not enough impact to let anything touch the floor near the bombs.

"Go Kid," Kaldur said, running out and doing flips and everything to avoid bombs. 'So the rest of the team must have got a walking map too…' Wally thought, then kicked into running as Artemis fired another arrow. Quickly enough, he pushed himself into the speed of sound, the world slowing down as he ran, focusing on not actually touching those damn bombs.

'Come on Wally, get whelmed,' He urged himself as M'gann opened the mind link once again. He didn't even know he had been closed off.

"So what exactly are we doing, Sugar?" Wally asked, a bit unclear.

"Robin has sent orders to take samples. He said you are to make sure _not_ to slip," M'gann answered, and he watched as a guard was flown across his vision. He tensed his muscles slightly, preparing to cannon-ball into a wall of guard's. Bowling through them, he watched as M'gann's telepathy raised a few crates containing the drugs and he went to throw a punch at another.

But he forgot how hard he could punch at certain speeds, and watched as the guy was flung backwards, right near a bomb.

Fortunately, the guy was unconscious and had landed _near_ a bomb, but not on one. Unfortunately, someone else did. M'gann hadn't been able to detect a bomb, and the countdown to the explosion began.

Wally groaned, yelling, "It's going off! Move, move!" He realized he had thought that in complete Superspeed, and realized by the time that the team would reply with things like 'what?' or 'slow down!' and if he could reply, it would be too late.

M'gann picked up on it though and raced, the boxes still hovering with her. Wally was behind her, having to bowl through a few more guards. His back was to the entrance, and he was being pushed back to in front of the bomb.

That's when one of the guards pulled out a big laser looking thing and aimed at his chest, and Wally was aware that he was thrown backwards from the impact, landing heavily on his back. He was winded for a few seconds and was then realized the bomb only a metre in front of him was going off at the entrance. He did his best to stand, but ended up twisting himself onto his stomach, his hands covering his neck as the explosion rung out.

For those few moments, all he could hear, smell and feel was the fire caused by the explosion. Shrapnel landed around him and his chest felt heavy. He was breathing deeply, and there was a ringing in his ears. This, to him, happened in minutes.

It was in fact seconds. He stood, slightly dizzy from the impact. He looked down to see the damage and cursed. His logo had been blasted away, but his skin was _already_ healing. He knew the scar wouldn't heal with it, so he crossed his arms over his chest as he heard M'ganns voice,

"Wally! Are you okay?" She sounded urgent, which meant she had probably tried to contact him before which he had not answered too.

"Uh, yeah, why wouldn't I be gorgeous?" But when he took a step, he gasped in pain as a sharp stab spreaded from his chest and groaned.

"Alright, maybe not…" He thought, but he had voiced it louder than anticipated and Robin's voice came over,

"Wally, are you hurt?"

Wally's hesitation seemed to be enough, as Kaldur was voicing for him to wait there, and that M'gann could back track and see what was going on.

He wouldn't allow it, arguing with himself that his speed healing would come in affect, and he'd be fine within minutes. The first few steps were agonizing, but he refused to let his arms drop from his chest, silently pleading a jumper would come out of nowhere and he could conceal his scar.

'Please not now,' He pleaded, making sure he was reserved enough from the mind link to think it. 'Not now not now… Dude, get whelmed. They don't need to see. Say it's your ankle or too much cannon-balling,' He had been too wrapped up in his private thoughts to realize he had stopped walking.

Forcing himself back into a walk, he saw M'gann approaching above. He smiled, and stopped walking, his arms still folded.

"What's wrong?" She asked, 'Oh yes I'm good how about you?' Wally thought dryly as he felt the mind link completely shut off as M'gann spoke aloud.

"Just a sprained ankle," He lied, "It's nothing big. Heal within hours. I'll be fine, really." M'gann accepted the lie, "Are you sure you don't want me to carry you?" She offered.

"No, that's fine Sweet Cheeks," He shrugged, walking and holding back a wince.

His damn _chest. _It felt like Superboy had just gone and goddamn _danced_ on it.

'Totally imaginable,' He thought, the thought amusing him with Superboy dancing to something like 'Staying alive'.

Walking back with M'gann hanging close to him, he smiled widely as the team turned and Robin and Artemis glared suspiciously at the hole which was poking out from beyond his folded arms.

Wally noticed and shifted his arms slightly.

"What happened?" Robin asked, pointing to his chest.

"Nothing happened," He shrugged.

Robin gave a bat-glare, and Wally felt like their ages were reversed. It was just a tad intimidating.

"I may have ripped my uniform. So?" Wally said, and Artemis took a stride up to him. He didn't notice Robin leaning into Zatanna and whispering something in her ear. She smiled cheekily and Wally was still oblivious as Artemis frowned.

"Are you hurt?" Her face was devoid of emotion, but her voice had a tinge of concern.

He shook his head, but in the middle of the action Zatanna blurted out, "_Dlofnu ruoy smra_!" And against his will, Wally's arms unfolded and before he knew it, his arms were at his sides and his chest was shown to them all.

But what shocked the team the most was that even though his uniform and lightning bolt logo had been shredded off from the ray,

The logo was still there, white and scarred deeply into his chest.

"Wally… W-what the heck is that?"

* * *

_**CREDIT GOES TO GHOSTDOG401 ! HERE'S WHY!:**_

_The Team watched as Wally took a blast to the chest ripping his logo off his chest, but by the time the smoke cleared and they were at his side the logo was still there, white and scarred deeply into his chest _

These were the exact lines she sent me, and I was fortunately granted use to use them. I did, (as you can see) and I must thank her so much for that because otherwise all you readers wouldn't be stuck with a cliffie! ;) She's amazing and her stories are amazing too, so please check them out, por favour!

Thank you so much GhostDog401, or, rather Ghosty ;)

And thank you so much for reading! Send reviews and feedback!

Farewell for now! (No, not proofread...)

~Kayla :D


	3. Chapter 3

Yay! Finally this is up! I must thank you guys so so so much for all your reviews. I mean, 44 for just 2 chapters? And over 80 alerts?

That's insaneeeeeee. Thank you so much though! **Don't own YJ. Na duhhh.**

Woopie, I hope I can meet all your expectations! Phew, the pressure is on!

* * *

"Wally… W-what the heck is that?"

* * *

In his life, Wally had always wanted to run. The feeling of running, of being free, was _intoxicating. _When he ran, he felt like his troubles were too slow for him and he was simply free from these past years… running was basically his _life. _

But right now, he knew if he ran he'd _never_ feel free. Because he knew the Team's gazes would _always_ be there- staring right at his chest.

His _scar._

Robin took a step forward, and Wally took a step back in return, shaking his head. This couldn't be happening… not after all these years.

He was breaking the promise he and his father made all those years ago, and with it broke his walls of defence. His mask was showing the cracks. No, no, no!

_Worthless. You can't even keep out LITTLE secret. You're a disgrace._

His father's voice washed over his mind and he felt like shutting down and shutting the cruel world out too. Why was life being so unfair? All he needed was to simply keep this one little secret but yet, he still couldn't manage that.

His father was right. He _was _a disgrace.

He could _feel _the looks locked intently onto him, silently asking him questions which he did _not _want to answer. He didn't want to face the facts that now the entire team knew and they were becoming worried and may even pity him if he told them who carved the scar. He hated being pitied. It showed that he was _weak _and _worthless._

A thought struck him. Why not just lie? Sure, alright, lying could work. As long as his left eyelid didn't twitch, he may just be able to get away with it.

Alright, alright. He tried to control his shaking hands and move his arms, which still seemed to be under the control of the spell. Slowly, they were going slack and he moved them up to his chest in an instant.

To the Team, they only saw the bolt for half a minute. But it felt like time had frozen, and all they saw was the shocking white ugly scar placed on the chest of a wide-eyed speedster.

Robin snapped out of the trance the quickest, leaving the rest of the Team with their widened eyes. He took another step forward cautiously, afraid that his best friend would run off. Wally stayed, eyeing him closely. Robin knew that look, and it hurt him a little. Because that look showed that Wally was wary, and to know that Wally was wary of his best friend –of _him- _… it made Dick nervous. Because it was clear Wally was definitely not comfortable, and wanted to do what speedsters do best.

He wanted to run.

"W-Wal-" Robin began, and Wally shook his head.

He managed to mutter, "Kid Flash," which Robin barely heard, but still managed to nod, realizing he was in uniform. Maybe it was the shock of seeing the Flash logo scarred into Wally's chest.

Maybe.

"KF…" Robin took another step, looking closely at the scar poking out from Wally's crossed arms. He noticed the pale skin which made a ring around the bolt and it was definitely more than two years old, and it must have been before Wally received his powers otherwise the scar would've healed like the ring around it… right?

Wally's figure visibly tensed and Robin paused his mid-step, resisting raising his arm and making sure he wasn't imagining this, because Wally couldn't… wouldn't… keep something like this from him. He wanted to make sure he wasn't just in another cruel training session. He wanted to make sure that what he was seeing was real and that his teamma… no, _best friend_ was supporting a secret. Just so he wasn't going crazy.

Maybe Gotham was getting to him.

Wally was now shaking slightly, but yet he was still tense. Artemis took a step forward in uncertainty, wanting to say something, _anything, _but no words passed her lips. It was like her throat had closed up, and she was forced to remain silent as Wally did too.

She turned when Kaldur cleared his throat, "I believe we have all we need here. We should head back to the Cave."

No one argued. No one said a word as M'gann called the Bio-Ship, and they stepped on with M'gann loading the crates too. Wally froze, unsure if he wanted to follow. Could he face the looks of pity?

He'd have to. Robin was looking at him sharply, automatically knowing what he was thinking.

_You better not run_, his eyes behind the mask commanded.

Wally just took a slow step forward, and then followed Robin robotically. He felt numb. This couldn't be real. No. It couldn't be.

_Disgrace._

_Worthless._

_Failure._

Sitting on his seat, he tried to pretend not to notice the gazes sent his way as he kept his arms folded. He was sitting on one side of the piloting seat, and Robin was on the other side. M'gann was piloting. Robin was clearly doing something on his wrist computer, but Wally couldn't see. He really didn't want to know, if he knew what he thought it was.

Wally couldn't wait to get onto solid ground. Solid ground was where he could _run _and where his troubles could temporarily disappear. Solid ground was where he could collect his thoughts, and escape this stuffy Bio-Ship with the gazes.

Okay, now he really, really wanted that magic jumper that would appear out of nowhere.

The thought amused him, and he focused on the thoughts of a magic jumper until M'gann announced they were entering the Cave.

Wally raced off, trying to control his breathing. Alright, they still didn't know a reason because they didn't _ask_ for a reason. Maybe he could slide it off as a prank.

Yeah, okay, a prank.

Or maybe the blast laser thing scarred it there. Yeah sure, that works too.

He raced off, leaving Kaldur and the Team to report. The sooner he was away from his problems, the better. Maybe he could clear his head. Maybe.

_So many 'Maybe's._

Where could he go? Usually, he'd go to Barry's… But that had to be out of the question. Robin could ask Batman and Batman would ask Barry…

And so that was crossed off his mental list.

Running to his Cave room, he picked out a sweater. Throwing the red wool over his head, throwing the gloves off and putting on some jeans and sneakers he was off to the zeta-tube.

'_Recognized. Kid Flash. B-03'_

Before he knew it, and before his mind could even _comprehend _what his feet were doing, he was standing in front of a very familiar, very haunting door.

At that moment, he cursed his feet for being faster than his thoughts.

He had ended up where it all began.

Sighing, deciding he had basically no other option, he grabbed the spare key from under the mat and unlocked the door. He knew his mother would be working and his father should still be in some mental hospital. He didn't know. He couldn't think through the fog of his mind.

He stepped through the door and was slaughtered with images and memories so fast- memories he had locked away deep within in his mind- he began shaking. He gripped the table for support which was near the door. He could imagine seeing the blood…

_Drip. Drip. Drip._

He could see the red that splattered the white tiles all those years ago. He knew no amount of bleach could cover it up.

It was _his_ blood. His chest began throbbing and he rubbed a hand through his hair, groaning. He didn't know why he had come back here. All he knew was that it was a very, very bad decision.

He sat on the couch and stared at the clock, deciding to kill a few hours so the Team may just at least stay away from him when he went back.

_If _he went back.

* * *

~  
Sigh, not proofread and I honestly have barely any idea what the hell I'm typing. Also, I'm at a stump at which story to update next. Voting in the poll may help ;)

But yay for updates! :D

Aha, I hoped you guys liked this chapter!  
Reviews make updates faster, remember that :)

Thank you so much for reading! Also, do you believe the League should come onto Wally's tail? And what about Rudy? ;)

-Kayla :)

All mistakes and OOC'ness are mine.


	4. Chapter 4

Hai guys!

_**Announcement:**_ If anyone can find me a suitable image cover, I will dedicate and somehow promote you in this story if I like the picture. Thank you! :)

Woah! I think I just died. 60+ reviews? 100+ alerts? I've gone to FF heaven. Thank you guys so much. I mean you're all just amazing.

Tried to make this as long as possible for my leave of absence because I was away competing in Sydney. Oh my god, who else think Bart Allen is amazing? But poor Wally. And I could just die from the last 2 episodes.

Duh, don't own YJ. But I own my unproofed reading ._.

* * *

Kaldur was left to report to Batman with the rest of the Team (Well, except the Speedster) clearly tensed and stiffened behind him. And he really didn't blame them, besides, he was _still_ trying to fight the image of Wally's scarred chest from his mind to focus on this report.

Batman picked up on the Team's behaviour and he cut Kaldur off as he explained about the 'walking plan' the bad guys had in mind for the pressure bombs.

"Where is Kid Flash?" The cold monotone sent chills down their spines and Batman's eyes narrowed slightly as he studied the Team which seemed to shift uncomfortably. Bells rung off in the dark knight's mind and braced himself.

The question took the Team aback (each one cursing how noticeable their behaviour was… but then again he _was_ a detective), and Kaldur cleared his throat as he answered for them. "Resting." Bruce could hear the truth in his voice, but the way the Team was reacting, something must've happened. And he was going to find out what.

Robin knew Bruce only accepted it as a half-truth. Which it was. Hopefully, anyway. His best friend had simply disappeared as soon as they stepped into the Cave, but his announcement of leaving the Cave (which was announced just before they connected with Batman) had not gone unnoticed by the Team. So now the Speedster could be doing anything (but still hopefully resting) and they were stuck here under Batman's gazes.

Kaldur explained some more activities but skipped the part about Wally (of course), with Batman saying he'd be around to study the discoveries of the drugs. Until then, he ordered the Team to rest up.

"Robin, wait." The demanding tone of Batman immediately warned Robin of the danger around the corner. He tried to relax his body to appear as calm as possible and he turned around to face the gaze of Batman.

"Where is Kid Flash?" Batman repeated the question, but his tone was much more firm and demanding.

Robin swallowed. _So not asterous._

'Don't hesitate' he told himself, knowing if he did the Big Bats would definitely be onto them. And then he'd definitely be in for it at the Manor.

Damn it.

"Feeling a little whelmed." Bruce resisted the urge to roll his eyes at his ward.

"Why?" His eyes narrowed even more and Robin felt like slouching. He kept up his ground though, thankfully.

Robin shrugged, "A landmine went off and he was put on the duty of patrol."

"I know. So why is he not there to report?" Batman pressed on. He needed to get to the bottom of this. Damn his ward for making him do it the long way. Maybe he should put 'truth telling' potion in Alfred's mixture…

"Resting," Robin assured. 'You better be,' Robin mentally told Wally. "He just went in for a closer look when he thought he saw Kaldur in trouble. He almost got caught in the explosion."

"And I was not informed why?" Batman frowned. Aqualad had not informed him of any explosions.

"… Well you did cut off Aqualad…" Alright, that was true. Batman felt the urge to rub the bridge of his nose. "Return to Gotham as soon as you can." Batman ordered. Oh, Richard was so in for a little talk. Robin nodded for a sign of acknowledgement and the video cut off.

Why the heck was the Team so jittery? Surely they wouldn't be that wound up unless something very bad happened which shook them all up. And any one of them almost getting caught in an explosion was nothing new. Batman contemplated possibilities, but they were wiped from his mind.

'I warned you these Kids would be a handful, Queen,' He remembered telling the green archer after a particular mission. 'Told you, Queen. I told you.' Batman sighed and rubbed his temple.

Robin was also rubbing his temple (like father like son) as the feed cut off. Alright, he had to find his best friend before Batman really got onto them. He shuffled around for a bit before deciding to just stick with a good old phone call. Taking his phone (or rather communicator,) he dialed Wally's number.

He waited. And waited.

And huffed when it wasn't picked up. "Come on Wally, just pick the damn phone up…" He shuffled around a bit more and tried the call again, and was sent through to voice-mail.

"_Hey, the Wall-Man is here. I obviously wasn't fast enough to reach the call in time, so please, leave your message… and ladies, why not your number_?"

Robin rolled his eyes and hung up. He had never actually heard Wally's voice mail before (because the speedster _always _picked up) and he certainly didn't want to again. He groaned, but his hopes were lifted as the computer announced Zatanna's arrival.

"_Recognized, Zatanna. A-03"_

Robin quickly made his way over. She raised an expectant eyebrow, a glint in her eye.

"Hey, I sort of need another favour," He began, "I sort of need you to locate Wally."

"I don't think he'll appreciate that." She commented.

"I don't think he appreciated the other spell either. Besides, it's for his own good." He shrugged and Zatanna rolled her eyes. "Fine. I did nothing."

"You were never here," Robin agreed, and followed as Zatanna walked over to the appearing globe. "You owe me, Boy Blunder," She inquired, raising her arms slightly.  
Focusing, the spell came to her fingertips, "Etacol yllaW tseW!"* And on the globe, to her command, a red blinking dot appeared and Robin quickly scanned them. The address surprised him.

The speedster was in Central. But he wasn't in Barry's house. Robin knew that much.

A realization struck him and he faltered slightly. What would he be doing there? He turned to Zatanna, "Thanks! Yeah, I owe you one!" And with that, he rushed to the Zeta.

Zatanna looked at the coordinate which was now blinking dully. It eventually dulled out completely. Wasn't that somewhere in… Central?

Shrugging it off and deciding the Speedster really was resting in his home town, she minimized the holographic globe and walked to the kitchen.

Wally didn't remember dozing off. And for that, he had forgotten the past few hours.

He bolted upright, the familiar surroundings all _too_ familiar. Why was he here? Did his father get hi-

No. No. He remembered now. He remembered the looks of _pity _and _shock. _He groaned and rubbed his face with his palms. He looked over at the clock and realized he hadn't been asleep for _too _long, but he knew his mother would return in an hour or so. But he still didn't want to go back to the looks of pity. He didn't know if he _ever_ wanted to go back. He looked at his phone on the table and realised he had 2 missed calls from Dick.

'Aww great, knew I should've changed it from silent…' he thought, picking up the phone. 'Didn't leave a message' he thought, turning his phone off silent. Wait, if Dick had rung him twice, something must-

Oh. Oh the Bird Blunder was probably seeing where he was. Right. Okay.

But what if there was actually a crisis… he shrugged it off and decided to leave the house at the last moment and then go and explore the streets or something. He turned on the TV, but the drooling of the news reporter had tuned out his interest and that's when he noticed the lull thud beating around his chest. 'Probably just from the ray thing,' He convinced himself and changed the channel. The few moments of being distracted had cost him his awareness of Dick knocking. So he jumped when the door was furiously pounded on.

Oh, crap.

Who was it? Who could it be? Better not to answer the door, it could be anyone. And he didn't live here anymore… right? Right. Quickly racing across the line of the door and to the kitchen, he crouched in a position so that he could see through the window. He relaxed when he saw Dick, but tensed when he wondered how the damn detective had figured he'd be here. Hell, _he _didn't even know how he figured to get here. Sighing, he let Dick stand there and walked to the fridge. Pretend he wasn't here. No problem. He grabbed a Cherry Ripe and began eating.

"I know you're in there."

Wally stopped mid-chew. Damn it. He froze and didn't move.

"I'll bust open this door," Robin threatened, and Wally didn't doubt it but he didn't make a move either. Maybe he could just sneak out the back way…

He began walking as lightly as possible to the back door. May as well leave now.

Dick didn't have the heart to bust open the door. Besides, this wasn't even Wally's home anymore (and the question of why he was here still remained) and he didn't really suspect he had the right to bust open someone's door, even if it was his biological parents. He sighed and squatted, deciding to go with picking the lock.

Wally heard the que of the lock being rattled and he _sped. _Opening the back door, he raced past and turned left, getting out of that house. Now that he realized he was out of that house, he felt more _free_. No one was bothering him, there was no past memories of beatings. It was just the ground beneath hi-

Which wasn't there anymore.

Damn it. He felt his body fall forward, and he braced himself for impact. He mentally thanked whoever made his outfit for the extra padding. He groaned as his vision cleared and he saw the little balls around him.

Marbles.

'Goddamn detective. Leave me alone!' He cursed the damn detective for what felt like the millionth time that day, getting into a crouch position and standing. He turned to see Robin standing there, his arms folded.

"Thanks for the heads up bro," Wally joked, rubbing the back of his neck. The mask was back up. The pieces were coming back together. And this time, he was determined not to let the mask crumble.

Robin stood, "Whose house was that?" He asked, and Wally let a smirk upon his features.

"Dude, I told you the Bats was rubbing off on you. You need to live around the Wall-Man a bit more." Wally slowed his breathing. Calm.

The thud in his chest was becoming stronger, and he could feel a slight burning sensation coming on. And that burning sensation was clearly outlining his scar. Stupid ray. If it wasn't for that ray, he wouldn't have had to show the Team his scar.

_Failure._

That's what he was. And he bet one of his friends had went and told the League too.

_Disgrace. _

Wally started when he saw the masked hands snapping in front of his face. "Huh? Oh sorry dude. I was sort of blanking out from your long speech about how you're not like Bats…" He trailed off when Robin smirked- a victory smirk at that.

"What?" Wally asked, realizing that he probably screwed up.

"I wasn't talking replying to the Bats rubbing off on me thing." Yeah, he totally screwed up.

Wally shrugged, "Whatever. Look, I'm off to get some food. Coming?" Robin nodded, and Wally thought for a few seconds. "Got your civvies?"

"Does that even need answering?"

_**Cafe:** _

Wally sat at the café with Dick Grayson, gulping down his second milkshake. A realization hit him when he couldn't feel the familiar outline of a certain object in his back pocket.

"Oh damn! I left my phone back at … You know. Come on, we gotta grab it!" Wally stood up, not wanting to lose the phone he himself had paid for. No way. Besides, there was some hot girls numbers on there.

"Wally, I can really just buy a new one for you," Dick tried, knowing it would probably pain the Speedster to go back to that house. Richard hadn't missed the pale pink on the tiles.

_Blood._

Wally shook his head, "But I just got some girls number!" He whined, and Robin rolled his eyes. No, the Speedster just didn't want his 'parents' knowing he had taken a visit. The phone would surely indicate he had been there. Robin knew this, but said nothing.

Dick stood up, prepared to go with him before his phone rang. He held up a hand to the anxious Wally and answered,

"Dick, I need you in Gotham. Numerous robberies." Robin knew that was Bat's que for saying 'I need some backup here' but he was torn between leaving Wally or going to Gotham to help Bruce.  
"Bruce called in. Gotta head back to Gotham." Dick sighed, knowing otherwise he'd have a lot _more_ questions to answer back at the Manor if he didn't go.

Wally shrugged, "No big deal. Besides, it'll be a piece of cake. Speaking of cake…" Wally grinned and ordered one for take away. "See you later. Maybe." Wally mumbled the last part under his breath and walked out of the café before running.

Skidding to a stop at the door, he scanned for any signs of life within the house. Thankfully, none. He also realized he had left the television on, and grabbed the key which he still held in his pocket. Unlocking the door (which, thankfully, Dick had the courtesy to lock again) he entered and saw his phone. Smiling, he grabbed it.

"Piece of cake," He told himself, "Now for some of that lemon tart…" He turned off the television.

And that's when his step faltered. The thudding and burning sensations were becoming so intense in his chest he automatically reached a hand up to grip his chest.

'Stinking ray,' he thought, deciding that maybe it would wear off soon. That this was the climax of the pain before it dulled down and was nothing. He chose to believe that, and endured the pain.

But for the second time, his awareness had dulled. He missed the pounding of the door because the pounding in his ears had controlled all awareness.

But he didn't miss the door crashing down.

And he certainly didn't miss the reflection from the hallway mirror.

And he couldn't have missed the evil glint, the little smirk, that his father held.

But it's what he _really_ held that made Wally freeze with terror.

_The_ knife.

"Welcome home, son."

And there was no mistaking the tone underlying the sentence. There was no mistaking why his father was here.

* * *

*=Locate Wally West

_**Barry, I promise you, will be in the next chapter. Without a single doubt. I promise. I'll make it happen. Stay with me guys, please :) You're all so amazing. **_

No duh, not proofread x]

And I'm sorry if people are OOC, I'm aware they most likely are. But you know…. ._.

But oh my god, I promise I'll get the next chapter up sooner. Just please keep reviewing, because each one is like 100000 little rainbows blossoming inside me. Thank you for reading :)

**_-Kayla._**

**_That blue button down there is lonely. Why not comfort it? :)  
_**


	5. Chapter 5

**Guys! See the awesome new image cover? Isn't it simply AMAZING? Well it is. And it's by Twaxer.**

**So what are you waiting for? GO PRAISE TWAXER!**

90? 90 reviews? Holy llama. I love you all, please go and hug yourselves and say the hug was from me :D Also, **please read the bottom!**

_Dedicated to Twaxer and Reina Grayson for their submissions for image covers :) (I hope I got the PenNames right…)_

Yes, there's **Wally abuse in this chapter**. Like, a lot. Basically the entire chapter. I know you're all suckers for it ;D

* * *

Time was always slow for a speedster. Seconds were minutes, minutes were hours. But now? Time had sped up. Maybe he would be thankful in any other situation. But not here, not with the man he called (and still calls) Father. Any other situation but this one, where his Father held The Knife and had The Glint in his eyes.

Wally was frozen, his Father stepping forward. Wally, absent-mindedly, could smell the aroma of alcohol on his breath. He noticed his Father had let his weight run a little loose too.

'Snap out of it Walls!' He growled at himself, knowing his awareness was in some serious need of tuning.

With his awareness coming back sharp, so was the throb in his chest. It was making _him _feel sluggish, a word which was _not_ associated with a speedster.

'Run, Run!' He screamed at himself, but his feet did not comply.

That's when he suddenly felt out of breath. Everything was beginning to blur. He tried to focus, but nothing seemed in his control anymore. He could feel this tingling sensation, which turned to a burning sensation. He could feel himself stepping backwards. It was becoming so intense, _and oh god what was happening? _He felt like he was being eaten alive by roaring flames. Oh god, what he wouldn't do to make this stop, it just hurt so _much_.

And then _nothing._

Everything came back into focus slowly. Very, _very_ slowly. His chest was pounding worse than before and god damn his head hurt. Groaning, knowing Cold had probably just hit him a bit more harder than whatever intended, he strained to hear Uncle Barry comforting him, which he always (embarrassingly enough) did after someone hit him just a little _too _hard.

But he soon realized that there was no Uncle Barry there to comfort him, and that Cold hadn't actually hit him. He wasn't even in _Central. _

No, he was in Blue Valley* where his Father held The Knife and he had been in extreme pain and…

He instantly knew something was wrong. The ticking of the clock was going way too fast, his Father was approaching him _way_ too fast.

That's when he realized. Time had caught up to him. But… how was that possible? The throbbing in his chest was stronger… and his eyes widened. The ray.

That goddamn ray.

Everything was so much faster… but to someone _without_ superspeed it was normal. Completely, utterly normal. Somehow, somehow the ray must've cut his ties to the Speed Force. That had to be it right? But it couldn't be permanent, could it? No… no, he wasn't even sure if his 'Ray Theory' was even correct.

He was still feeling sluggish and _slow _and he was still frozen as his Father stepped closer.

Finally, his feet moved. He could see the door behind his Father and he _ran _(and it just felt so _wrong) _trying to dodge his Father. He didn't get past his Father as he grabbed his son's wrist, yanking him back harshly.

"I didn't give you permission to leave," His Father hissed, pulling Wally back so his ear was to Rudy's mouth. Wally tensed, gritting his teeth. He _wouldn't_ cry. He _wouldn't_ be weak. He wasn't _Wallace _West, a weak 8 year old who _would _letanyone do anything to him. No, he was _Wally _West, a 16 year old who _refused _to let anyone do anything to him without fighting to his last inch.

He could feel the cold metal of The Knife being pressed into his back. The door was forced to endure the stare of Wally as he tried to control his breathing. His Father faced the opposite way, smirking as he felt his son begin to shake slightly.

"I've missed you son. It seems though that you haven't grown the slightest bit smarter though, even though your grades may say different. Because you seem to of failed to notice that I… severed… the link between you and the Speed Force. So that means you have no chance against me, just like you didn't five years ago."

_Five years ago._

The words echoed around in his head and he felt like melting. Because this couldn't happening, _oh god not again_, and it shouldn't be happening and maybe if he just hadn't left his phone here…

Wait.

"How did you know I was here?" Wally asked coldly, begging his voice did not break because he was no way in hell showing weakness around this _monster._

"I always know," His father hissed, and Wally could feel the tip of The Knife being pressed deeper into his back. He began to shake. No, no, no…

He sucked in a breath as his father swiftly grabbed his other wrist, and soon he found his wrists bound securely together by rope.

_Someone will find me_

He tried to go for a kick like Black Canary had taught him, but without his speed it was suddenly so much harder (and he knew that ray had also done something to his agility and senses) and his Father chuckled and threw him down to the exact same stool which he was tied to _five years ago_ and he landed heavily, groaning.

_Please…_

His father kneeled down, and there was no mistaking the smell of beer. Wally held his breath and tensed as he tried to kick and struggle and just _escape _but his Father had his wrists bound to that stool.

_Anyone…_

He looked up at his Father who stood, admiring The Knife. He glared. He glared his anger, his hatred for this monster of a father.

_Uncle Barry…_

His Father met his glare and smiled, leaning down and waved the knife teasingly in front of his face. His eyes didn't follow, but rather stared at his Father.

_Robin…_

The knife was lead down, and he refused to show emotion as his Father cut down the length of the yellow shirt, leaving it open like an unzipped jacket.

_Roy…_

His father traced the scar and Wally bit his lip as his Father pressed the knife in.

_Artemis…_  
He could feel his flesh open as the knife moved down in a diagonal line. He was retracing the wound.

_Aunt Iris…_

He wouldn't cry out.

_No no not again…_

He could feel the blood run down his chest as his Father retraced the ring.

_Stop, please…_

He was numb.

_Oh, God, anyone…_

He couldn't stop his Father's fists.

_Please…_

He couldn't help the cry that burst through his lips.

"Stop! Stop!" He gasped, twisting on the floor. His Father smirked and brought The Knife down to his hips, tracing the bolts from his uniform. He gasped, blinking the tears away. But his Father was cutting deeper than last time and the time before that and it just hurt so _much_.

Just like the five years ago, the house was filled with screams, sobs, gasps of pains and horrible, horrible insults.

And rewashed with new blood,

The tiles began to stain.

Wally was numb. He couldn't feel anything and he didn't think he wanted to. Hell, he didn't even want to _think _because of the pain. He knew the link between the Speed Force and himself was fixing itself as the clock began ticking faster (and more normally) and his Father's movements were becoming slower.

His Father look up, staring into Wally's eyes and The Knife paused. "So it seems the Ray is wearing off, you little runt. Well, best get going then. Clean up after yourself, you little disgrace." His Father spat, standing and wiping the bloodied knife on Wally's jeans. Rudy placed The Knife on his son's lap, grinning.

"Souvenir," His Father smirked, turning and walking out the door, locking it behind him.

Wally refused to believe that this happened. That he had tears streaming down his face, that blood was beginning to pool around him and that his Father had carved into him again.

Wally's stomach grumbled and he groaned, not looking forward to the next few hours or minutes or _days_ of torment. Because his wounds _wouldn't_ heal without fuel and food was his fuel.

And right now, there was no food around. He could feel a metallic taste in his mouth and he twisted uncomfortably, but cried out as the movement aggravated the wounds.

He stared at The Knife and felt like throwing up. His breathing was laboured, and he tried to even it out. His torn short and pants were stained, just like the tiles.

Wally didn't remember closing his eyes and falling asleep.

* * *

Mary West had quite a pleasant day at work. She had been accepted her proposed raise, her manager had actually been nice to her, she had finally been allowed to use the coffee machine and there was some cute guy talking to her.

So, to be honest, it was more than a pleasant day at work. She was humming as she pulled into the garage, and still humming as she unlocked the door to the house. She turned and shut the door and smiled, but then something caught her eye.

No… it couldn't be… She was instantly at her son's side, shaking him. Although she may not of seen him for four years, she knew her son when she saw him. She shook him, "Come on Wallace, get up," She pressed her hand to the bleeding wound. His breathing was laboured (but thank god he was breathing) and she caught a glimpse of the carving.

And she jumped back in shock, but crawled closer and traced the bloody carving, her eyes tearing up. She quickly saw his hands and untied them, still trying to wake him. That's when she noticed the knife, and her throat closed up.

"Come on sweetheart, time to get up," Her voice shook and she covered her mouth, trying to stifle the sobs. She knew there was only one man that could do this to her son, and it broke her heart. She fumbled for her phone in her handbag, scrolling down the contacts.

She pressed 'Call' under the name Iris.

"Hello, this is Iris Allen?" The voice ventured.

"Ir-Iris, it's me."

The voice was hesitant. "Mary?"

"Help, oh god help, please," Mary begged, and Iris instantly began speaking. "What's happening Mary? Calm down, calm down. Take some breaths. What is it?"

"W-Wallace,"

"Wally?"

Mary frowned; remembering the name Wallace preferred, "Yes. He's here, and oh god, Iris I just came home and he's bleeding and there's this knife and…"

"Two seconds."

Mary tried to compose herself. "Alright, I'm driving there now. What happened, Mary?"

Mary sobbed, the name forcing its way past her lips, "Rudy. I-It was Rudy."

She heard the mouthpiece get covered.

Meanwhile, Iris was conversing with Barry at their house.

"It's Wally." She said, turning to her husband who was doing the dishes (God bless the sweetheart…).

"What'd the kid get himself into now?" Barry chuckled, numerous scenarios coming to mind.

"Rudy. Rud- Rudy got to him."

At this, Barry turned and the plate smashed at his feet. "I'm going, now."

"No, _we're _going. I've already told Mary we're driving."

"Then _we're_ leaving. Now." Barry had raced up and picked up his wife bridal-style and raced off. Usually, Iris felt enlightened her husband would still do this, but now she was filled with dread for her son-like nephew. Scratch that.

Her son.

Barry had placed her down in a moment, quickly opening the door. Iris quickly ran down to Mary, placing an arm around her shoulder. She gasped and her eyes teared up at the sight of Wally.

Mary turned and Iris grabbed her hand. "Come on, we're going to the police. Barry will take Wally to the hospital." Mary, knowing she was in no state to argue, followed Mary. Mary unlocked the car in the garage, Iris hugging her. Iris gave Barry a peck, "Bring him home safely," She muttered and Barry nodded, kneeling down to Wally.

Iris and Mary left, leaving one scarlet speedster with yet another scarlet (bloody) speedster.

He examined the injuries and bit his lip, realizing the wounds weren't healing. Which they should be.

He quickly raced off and grabbed a snack bar, kneeling down beside Wally again. "Come on Walls, wake up." He muttered as he grabbed a towel and began wiping away the blood. He didn't want to move Wally until the Kid got some fuel into him.

And somehow, the angels answered him.

Wally's eyes fluttered and he winced, his eyes focusing.

"Hey, dad," Wally mumbled, taking Barry aback. Because Wally had never called him dad, even though it sometimes felt like it. But he didn't focus on that, because Wally needed him. Hell, the world did.

"Hey Kiddo. Just relax, okay?" Wally groaned as Barry removed his shirt carefully, examining the injuries. "Jesus Kid," Barry mumbled,

"Dad… P-"

"Sh. Relax, okay? You're going to be healed in no time…"

"D-"

"Wally." The stern tone that Barry only used when Wally was _really_ in trouble made Wally stop and groan, wincing as even groaning seemed to set his body alight.

"Just stay awake, okay Kid?"

But it seemed Wally just didn't want to listen to him today.

* * *

Okay what the hell was that ._.

That's what happens when you're in a rush xD

PRAISE TWAXER, I TELL YOU! (Be warned, this shall be in every single chapter now…)

* I believe, in the comics, his family's house was here?

**READ READ READ!**

I will be away for more than 2 and a half weeks on competition in another state and I know I won't be able to update until after then. Maybe then I'll be able to get over the writers block. Thank you so much for reviewing (I can smell 100!) and alerting and favouriting, I seriously love you all. Best wishes, Kayla.

REVIEWS feed my soul ;D


	6. Chapter 6

I'm back! :D

Also, holy Llama, LOOK AT THOSE REVIEWS. Incredible. Thank you guys so so so much for sticking with me during this! :D 34 REVIEWS. I'm in heaven. I must be.

I believe I got back to everyone on reviews. If I didn't, deepest apologies.

Also, to some I said I would have uploaded within 12 hours from a certain point. I got hit pretty badly with stomach cramps and had to lie down in pain basically the entire day which didn't allow me to type. So sorry!

* * *

_**Also, this is dedicated to Lilliana Rider! READ WHY AT BOTTOM :D**_

_**PRAISE TWAXER!**_

* * *

Barry was in a little pickle. Wally still wasn't healing, even after the numerous energy bars and a coke (and who knows how Barry got them and fed them to the sleeping bleeding boy.) The wound was _still _bleeding through the numerous towels and cloths Barry placed on the wound. Something definitely was not right.

"C'mon Kid, I really need you awake," Barry muttered, willing himself really not to throw up. Because, yes, he had seen wounds like this. Worse than this. But none of them were on _Wally_.

He was still stuck. Because Barry knew he couldn't take Wally to a normal, public hospital in his civvies. Like a previous incident they barely got out of, the doctors would see something was definitely wrong with his biometrics and would rather keep him and 'experiment' on the boy. It chilled Barry to the bone to think about it.

Then an idea clicked, and he wondered why he didn't think of it earlier. The Cave.

"Kid, I'm going to take you to the Cave for the Medic Bay. I can't take you anywhere else."

Well, _that _brought a result.

Wally's eyes shot open- panicked. "No, no, no! Please no! If Rob sees or any of the Team… they'll… they'll," He was taking in deep breaths, which strained a lot of effort. He couldn't finish the sentence.

"Hey, hey Kid! Calm down, okay? Remember, Bats and Mini-Bats are in Gotham. You're not thinking clearly, Kid. Come on, I need you to try and get up."

But Wally simply _couldn't. _He took in a gasp of pain, "So- Sorry Uncle B. D- Don't think I c-can." He gritted his teeth, looking down to his chest and could feel the world getting a little dizzier as he looked at all the _blood._

"Here, maybe it'll help if you get some more food." His Uncle passed him yet another energy bar and Wally slowly, slowly ate it. He was feeling slightly better already.

"It looks like the bleeding is stopping. Jeez, Kid, I'm so sorry," Barry looked down, his pressure being forced on Wally's chest. There was no way Kid was about to entirely look the same colour as his uniform.

"For what?" Wally's voice was clearly confused because there was _nothing _for Barry to be sorry for.

"Not being there and just… God, Kid, why are you even here?" His Uncle looked up from the no-longer bleeding carving, right up into the young boys regretful and shocked green eyes. "No, Dad, you're here now, right? Th- There is nothing for you to be sorry for- at all. And…" Wally's hesitance to answer Barry's question was clear.

"It's alright. I'm sure Bats will ask as soon as he finds out. Now come on Kid, you've got to try and stand up." Barry linked his arms under Wally's knees and on his back, lifting him up, bridal-style.

"Recon you can stand?" Barry asked, and was answered with a shake of the head. No.

"Bats already knows," Wally answered truthfully. Well, one of them did.

"What?" Barry's eyes snapped back up to the boy he held.

"I mean the Mini one. And yeesh, Dad, is there such need to be so protective of me?" Wally laughed at the joke. Because Wally was always jabbing at Barry that he was _way _too much of a mother-hen at times and it was a _little _crowding at the best of times.

Barry shook his head, "Crazy kids," he mumbled. "Alright, recon you can handle the speed?" His Un- Dad was preparing to run.

"Always can, always will," Wally attempted to smile, but even that was a big effort at this point. He just relaxed in the older speedster's arms.

"Hey Kid, you're going to be okay, alright?" Barry knew he was probably saying that for his own sake, but it seemed to comfort Wally slightly. He said nothing, but rather nodded into his chest.

"Alright, here we go," His 'Uncle' kicked into superspeed, racing out of the house. Wally turned into his Uncle's chest, as dirt was beginning to fly into his eyes slightly. He then realized that, heck; his Uncle was the one running in civvies. No eye protection. Straining to reach his pocket, he was relieved to feel his goggles in his right back pocket. He groaned at the effort, showing them to his Uncle. His Uncle looked at them,

"Take them," Wally insisted, and Barry –in no mood to argue- took the goggles and somehow managed to slide them on without actually dropping Wally. How he did it, Wally would never know.

"Thanks Kid," His Uncle said gratefully, and Wally just nodded again, shielding back into his Uncle's chest. He was _not_ looking forward to the next destination he was doomed to visit.

Wally must've dozed off again, because his Uncle was nudging him awake. Wally didn't realize the zeta was really that far. But Barry was probably going slower for Wally's sake.

"Hey Kiddo. We're at the zeta. You ready?" His Uncle was looking down at him a bit nervously.

"No," Wally grumbled. "Just… Just let me try and walk in, okay?" Wally wanted to have some piece of normalcy to hold onto. Walking seemed like the closest so far. His Uncle frowned, but Wally persisted.

"Please? Just to try? If I can't, you can continue helping me. Please?" Wally was not giving this one up, and Barry knew it too.

"Alright, Kid. But I swear, if it looks like you have even the slightest chance of tipping, I am going to carry you." Wally just nodded, taking a deep breath. Couldn't be that hard, could it? It was just walking.

Plain.

Easy.

His Uncle set him down gently, and Wally stood up, trying to focus as the world went on a very fast merry-go-round.

Yeah, alright, maybe not.

But there was _no_ way he was letting this go. He was determined to stay up, and took his first step.

Well, at least he didn't fall flat on his face. Dangerously close to it, though. He knew Barry was watching him very, _very_ closely. Wally took another step and another, gritting his teeth. Damn, it _hurt _and he _knew_ he shouldn't be _doing_ this to himself, but he was just so _thick-headed…_ or maybe it was just the past couple of hours getting to him. Either way, he was stepping through the Zeta with his Uncle right next to him and he was in pain while doing so.

And damn, that Zeta did _not_ help. The world was going on that merry-go-round again and Wally did _not_ appreciate that.

_Recognized, Kid Flash, B-03_

_Recognized, Flash, 04_

Wally looked around. The TV was thankfully not going. Which meant Supes was probably somewhere else. '_Alright, M'gann is probably with him_.'

So that was two down.

'_Rob is in Gotham_,'

Three.

'_Kaldur is with Orin today…'_

Four.

This just left Artemis and Zatanna.

He was cool with that number. Maybe not cool enough to be relaxed, but it was probably better than the entire team.

The world tipped, and his Uncle quickly grabbed Wally under his arms. "Alright, off to the med bay." The voice was stern and was clearly commanding that, yes, Wally _was_ going whether he liked it or not. But to be honest, Wally didn't want to argue.

Wally was gently placed down on a bed as they entered the med bay.

"Take these, should help with the pain. Double dose for speedster metabolism and all," His Uncle laughed and handed him the pills and a cup of water. Wally downed them with a little difficulty, but still managed to do it.

"Dad… There's something you should k-k-" He didn't get to finish as he was pulled under by the drugs.

"Sorry Kid. I know you hate the knock-out ones," His Uncle muttered, knowing he had tricked the pained Speedster to thinking they just helped with the pain. He began his plan immediately.

He pressed his comm.-link.

"Hey Bats. Sort of got Wally in the med bay down at the cave. Need you to come down ASAP. With the best doctor you've got. He's… He's really got a number on himself."

"Just finished here. Should be there soon," The cold monotone was a little comforting. At least one thing hadn't changed.

It pained Barry's heart to hear Wally wince and cry out. The sedatives should've calmed him from any nightmares, but it seemed Wally burned through them way too quickly.

"D-Dad! I-I'm sorry!" Barry put a hand on Wally's arm as he cried out. Barry knew it might be a little dangerous to dose the boy again.

"Calm down Kiddo. I'm here, I'm here," Barry tried to soothe the frantic boy. He looked at the carving and groaned. Blood was leaking out. If the kid kept it up with his stress the bleeding would start all up again. He grabbed a cloth and began dabbing, wiping away the blood.

"God, Kid, I'm so, so sorry," His uncle muttered over and over, hoping somehow his kid could hear him.

* * *

Batman's lips pursed, turning to Robin. He had just received the news from Barry. "I'm needed somewhere else. Head back to the Manor. Tell Alfred I'll have to be back late. Go to bed as soon as you have dinner. Don't shove yours beans in the table compartment. I'll be ringing Alfred to ask how you are. I'll drop you at the Manor."

And there was no messing with _that _tone.

This made Dick worry. Because Bruce would bring him along if it was something to do in Gotham.

And wait… How the heck did he see him sliding those disgusting greens away? Sometimes having a detective for a dad had its disadvantages.

He shook his head slightly and watched as Bruce slid back into the shadows. Oh, two bats could play at _that_ game. He followed quietly, hit feet not making a sound as he swung from the rooftops. He could see Bruce slyly sticking to the shadows. He turned down the familiar ally… the one with the telephone box which contained the Zeta beam, in fact. Robin frowned. The Cave?

Only Artemis was hanging around there because Zatanna was too. They were doing some more girl bonding time by the looks of it. Maybe Wally went back too. Robin frowned. If he went in, the computer would announce his arrival.

"And it's time to do some hacking…" He muttered to himself, pulling out his wrist computer and connecting it to the Zeta. Pressing and typing in numerous things, he was satisfied with the result.

He was just hoping Batman wouldn't be standing right there at the entrance when he entered.

He stepped inside the box, and found himself stepping into the Cave. No arrival was announced and Robin smirked. He had hacked it to be a single use only. It would be back to normal the next use. (He also made a mental note he needed to hack it again to leave soundlessly.)

He treaded silently, glad his boots made it possible to do so. He couldn't hear any talking but he kept walking. Then he heard it. Through the vents.

"Mrs. Ruddick has been delayed. She should be here soon to attend to Kid Flash's wounds." What wounds? Wally wasn't sporting any wounds so bad that he would need a high ranked doctor…

"Bruce, this wasn't acquired in his uniform." Barry's voice came through. It sounded tired and weary. A horrible knot tightened in Dick's stomach.

Robin could basically hear Bruce's glaring- the glare which meant 'I have a suspicion, but do enlighten me. Or I will find out anyway' glare.

Barry took a deep breath. "Mary rang Iris. She was hysterical. She had found Wally on the floor of her kitchen bleeding terribly, a carving drawn into his chest and bruises basically on every inch of his skin."

Robin sat there, near the vent. His eyes widened and his fists clenched. He let a growl escape his throat and he turned and punched the wall.

Big mistake.

He cursed himself. Damn it! He should've been in control of that!

"Stupid, Rob! Stupid!"

Bruce had gone to investigate the obvious noise of punching a wall. He had done it too many times himself, so he knew exactly what it sounded like. By the time he was up in the room Robin had overheard from the vents, there was no sign on anything but a little chip on the wall.

_Oh_ yes. He was having a talk to Dick as soon as he got back to the Manor.

He grumbled something about 'Mini-replicas' and walked back to the med-bay.

The announcement of Mrs. Isodelle Ruddick was announced to the Cave. Bruce stood at the entrance of the beam and guided her to the med-bay without a word or a sound.

* * *

_**Lilliana Rider sent me this fantastic review, sending me an idea she had to let out. It was brilliant (check the reviews to see it!) and I decided to use it with her permission. It inspired the first part of this chapter, so please thank her!**_

Cheers!

I know there wasn't too much in here, but hey, it's 1:38AM. Haha.

Woop, finally up! Hopefully the reviews can keep up! I hope this was good, and I realize that, heck, yes, they were probably a bit OOC. Oops. May fix bits later.

Anyway this 13 year old is signing out.

-Kayla.

Oh yeah, and obviously not proofread. Sorry for any mistakes.

Oh yeah, I also want to say:

_**Spitfire ahoy. Because she may of just been near a vent too ;)**_


	7. Chapter 7

_His Own Scar- 7_

Disclaimer: Don't own YJ, obviously.

Sorry about the update times. Busy and such. Also, it's really not that bad compared to other updates for stories... So really no reason to be that mad... xD But yeah, I've also been battling writing block. Tried getting Pitied done... But nothing is coming. **_I'm really sorry if this chapter is crap. I have no inspiration right now. I've been crying for the past like... hour... so you're lucky I'm doing this xD  
_**

**_It's also insanely hectic with skating right now. I'm just under a bit of stress.  
_**

So I have this new poll for a new story. It's a bit of range, with all of them Wally based. I would be forever grateful if you voted x

* * *

Isodelle Ruddick was no stranger to the world of superheroes and cowls. In fact, she could claim she knew every single League's identity. She had patched them up enough, AND after all and they _did_ have regular conversations on quite a frequent basis. She was surprised to be called in by Bruce, who had called her to come to the Cave immediately. This surprised her greatly, because she knew about the Cave, but had never been near it. They're (meaning the young team) injuries were nothing the League themselves couldn't handle. So she had never been called in. Hell, she was rarely called in with the _League_ unless it was something _serious. _

Batman greeted her with a nod of his head, and she nodded politely back. She was solemn, and so was he. 'But then again, he's always like that...' She thought absentmindedly, taking in her surroundings. She had to admit, she was impressed. Well, it was built by super powered humans... well, that wasn't the point. She followed as Batman lead her to the medical bay, and her eyes were immediately on Barry Allen- The Flash and his flailing protege. She didn't even have to meet the boy to know who the kid was. Who else had red hair like _that?_

"What happened?" She asked, checking the boy's health. In conclusion, it _was not _good. The Flash snapped out of his haze, looking up at her familiar face. His eyes turned hard, but it wasn't directed at her. "His father. Child abuse," The words were harsh and cold, and it made Isodelle freeze. Because Barry was always laid back and the most approachable at the best of times, but right now he was being _very _unapproachable. The words eventually sunk in, and she frowned. Weren't the Flash and Kid Flash father and son?

_'Wally West' _The name rung in her head, and she then realized that the two weren't related. Which was surprising, but that wasn't the focus. She nodded to Barry, having worked on a few domestic violent injuries herself. She knew how to handle it. She started with trying to get the dang speedster to stop _flailing._

* * *

Barry was anxious.  
No, a _lot _more than that. He had been pushed out by Bruce quite physically as he watched as his nephew laid on that damn medical bay. He was barely keeping a growl in his throat. He should've watched the kid. Kept tabs on Rudy. Something! Anything!

He had enough restraint to stop himself from killing the sick excuse of a man, but he knew if Wally woke up he would definitely need to be there. The kid, as strong as he was, was a hairs breath from shattering and if anyone needed to be there, it had to be _him. _Worry, anger, anxiety all passed through him, flushing down to his pacing feet. He didn't notice the youngest sidekick sit on the chair, watching him carefully. Eventually, Barry caught notice of the hologram and he slowed, eyeing the boy. Wally told him he knew what was happening between Rudy and Wally.  
Neither of them spoke. Robin sighed,

"He just forgot his phone. He stupidly forgot his phone and he ends up in the medic bay..." It was a soft voice, and Barry looked at the young kid. The sunglasses didn't stray from the screen, but Barry could tell the Kid's eyes were glancing at the medic bay door.

Barry sat down next to him, "You were with him?" He asked, not really getting any updates from Wally during the day on his phone via text. Maybe that explained it.

"Yeah, caught up with him. We sort of hang around and had to duck into the house to hide. KF left his phone in there and went back after lunch. I- I was called out for Gotham. Not whelming timing. Not whelming at all," The boy sighed, rubbing a hand through his ebony hair. Bruce stepped out as soon as Barry slouched down, but the speedster was immediately up and firing questions. "How is he, Bats?"

Bruce sent Robin a glare, and Robin felt like gazing at the floor to avoid the gaze. He kept his gaze up, staring right back as his mentor glowered. "He will heal. But there are other... complications. There's a scar." The Knight waited for a response as Barry's head tilted slightly. "Wouldn't the speed healing have covered it up all nice and clear?" He knew most of his scars were only caused by deadly shots. Even then, they were barely visible. Batman's eyes narrowed slightly, and Barry's eyes widened in response.

"You're saying this happened _before _the spandex, aren't you?" Barry ventured, a sick gut feeling twisting into a _very _sick gut feeling. "It is a possibility. Especially with Rudy-"

"Oh god. No, he couldn't have kept it that well hidden. Someone, anyone, would have noticed, right?" Barry's voice sped up slightly, panicking. How could he not notice a damn lightning bolt actually carved into his chest? His fists clenched, and Bruce just sighed. "I'm trying to locate Rudy West. Until then, I believe your boy is waking up."

Barry quickly dashed past Bruce, flinging himself into the medic room. Robin went to follow, but Bruce towered over him. "No." He declared, sternly and cold.

"But, Batman!" He pleaded, wanting to see his best friend. He wanted to see him smile. Joke. Fall over for all he cared. But apparently Bruce wasn't going for that. "No. We are going to discuss your habits of hacking into the Zeta system to sneak in _against _my orders. You will return to the Manor, and you will not go out. I trust you can, at least, do that?" Robin had a slight pouty look, but Bruce wasn't budging. He wasn't doing it for Dick, but rather the two speedsters. This was something _they _needed to discuss, with only _one _Bat's or person eavesdropping. Robin walked to the tube, disappearing with a voice this time.

Too bad that plan was also out the window, as Artemis had stayed in the vents and listening to every word she could. Batman, thankfully, didn't seem to take notice. She had crawled along soundlessly, actually getting a perfect view about the medic room. She could look through the holes to see the room. The speedster looked calmed, which looked completely _unnatural _who was supposed to be bounding around and annoying her at every possibility. She watched as

a man walked in. She knew who he was- The Flash. His blonde hair was spread out in every direction it could reach, and his clenched fists represented he was pissed. Which was surprising, seeing as Flash was always the one who was laid back and calm. 'Then again,' Artemis thought, 'Seeing your protégée beaten up by his father...'

And then something clicked. Under both of their skins, both Artemis and Wally weren't that different. They hid their pains from their fathers, but clearly both in different ways. Artemis went for the more Independent outlook and a headstrong girl, and it seemed Wally went for the all jokes and smile. It was a stupid plan. If one found a crack, one could smash the entire mask down.

Then Wally started flailing. Her eyes snapped to him as he cried out. "No, no I'm sorry! I didn't mean it! I didn't mean for her to..." He trailed off as Barry roughly shook him awake. His green eyes snapped open, and that's when Artemis was taken by true surprise.

It was a sight she never wanted to see again. Wally, with his terror filled eyes that brimmed with tears, taking deep breaths. The older speedster immediately went to comfort him, whispering things that Artemis couldn't hear. She figured she may want to get out of this stupid vent before Zatanna became suspicious.

Sadly, it seemed her plan failed just as badly as Batman's. As she went to move, the holes below her feel and crashed, and she went down with them. She braced herself for impact, a gasp on her lips as she realized that she hadn't landed on the floor. She tensed, opening an eye to see Barry's amused eyes looking down at her. "So... I suppose you get the award for besting the bats in the eavesdropping competition... Well until you fell. Isn't that right, Bruce?"

Flash turned to the door, the last words exaggerated. Artemis tensed as she felt a presence behind her and she immediately whirled, seeing Batman.

Amongst this, Wally watched with tired but amused eyes. Oh, now this would be something to backfire at Artemis. A grin formed, and that's when his eyes locked onto Artemis'. He didn't look away. But she did, turning her gaze to his chest. He smirked, about to say something like "Like what you see?" before he looked down himself.

His eyes widened, seeing the bandages. His head quickly snapped to his Uncle and his eyes studied Barry before they clouded over with something as his gaze lowered.

Barry recognized it as shame. He was about to step forward, but someone else did.

Well, actually, the other two heroes did whilst he stood there staring.

Artemis slowly made her way to Wally, sitting down near his feet cautiously.

'And Green Arrow now owes me twenty...' He thought smugly, before his head snapped to Bruce.

"We're tracking Rudolph West. "

Wally's head snapped up, and he stared at Batman. Slowly, his eyes went to Barry. "H-He's done it before," He whispered, Artemis only barely hearing it.

"He'll disappear. Go into hiding like the coward he is," Wally's voice grew louder. "And then he'll come back. Back for m-me," No one missed the stammer, but no one picked up on it.

Bruce shook his head slightly. "Rudolph won't be coming back for a while yet."

Before Wally could ask, he was suddenly falling back asleep. Both mentors left the young heroes eventually, mostly after Barry's sad looks and glimpses.

Artemis sighed. No point in going home. Her mother was out anyway for something. She didn't exactly take note. Wally began twitching, and the twitches became shakes. Moans became cries of anguish, and Artemis crawled up the bed. "Sh, Wally. I'm not sleeping with you if I can't get any sleep."

Miraculously, the speedster seemed to settle. Artemis wondered just how much he had been hiding under that smile of his that she loved.

She fell asleep, not getting the chance to correct her slip at the end.

Dick Grayson usually followed orders. He listene to teachers, did his homework without complaint and usually listened to Bruce.

Well, usually wasn't exactly always. For one, he wasn't even in bed. He was in the BatCave, hacking away. Two, even Alfred didn't seem to notice him down here. To put up the act, Dick had said Goodnight and waited half an hour before slipping out to the cave.

He tapped away, a wide smile appearing as he found what he wanted.

"Got anything?" Dick tensed on instinct, but he quickly relaxed as he saw Bruce walk in with the cowl down.

"Turbing enough, I've got a lead on Rudolph."

* * *

I have no idea what I'm typing. God, I hope this is actually somewhat cohert, but I can barely see through these stupid teary eyes...

Thank you guys so much for your support!

And remember, there's a poll waiting for you ;)

-Kayla :)


	8. Chapter 8

When Wally awoke, he really wished he didn't wake at all.

Every part of his body felt heavy, and his chest was on fire. He couldn't part his eyelids, feeling like they were glued together with some form of enhanced super-glue. Even breathing was a challenge, with his breaths coming out short and laboured.

The only comforting thing he could feel was the warmth of the object which snuggled comfortably against him. Unable to open his eyes to identify the object snuggled beside him, he slowly and painfully raised his arm to allow his fingers to roam over the object.

Wally, on any other day, would have immediately recognized the thing he felt as _hair. _But this wasn't any other normal day and couldn't instantly recognize the object he felt on his fingertips. He immediately tensed and his eyes broke free of the invisible glue which stuck his eyelids together to face the white glare of the medic room which was very dimly lit.

When his eyes focused on the mane of blonde hair spread out over his torso and he immediately relaxed. He closed his eyes in relief, but the emotion was soon replaced with sheer panic and pain.

Memories slaughtered his mind, leaving no mercy with any details. When his mind decided to revisit the memory of the _beating _he took the day before, his chest seemed to alight with a new wave of pain. That, along with waking up, was something Wally wished didn't happen.

He stared down at the snuggled blonde archer, wondering what she was doing there and also what the heck the time was. He glanced out at the window, squinting slightly at the new brightness. The sun had only just risen, and Wally deduced the time to be something around 7:00 AM.

Wally glanced around, avoiding the urge to move. After all, there was no need to wake Artemis up. She seemed perfectly content with her head tucked somewhat between his arm and chest and her legs entwined with his with a thin medic sheet on top of them.

Although the pain was horrible, Wally knew he was most likely dosed up and was only experiencing a little taste of the pain which his body was in. He attempted to study his wrapped chest, but was unable to see anything because of the mane of blonde hair which also covered his chest. A strap around his right wrist concluded that it was sprained. Other stinging cuts he could feel were stitched up, and he knew that this entire shebang would probably put him off missions for a while.

The whole thought of being put off missions really didn't help with the whole situation. And then that thought seemed to strike an entire parade of thoughts which relinquished any sort of happiness or content left deep within him.

_They're all going to think you're a failure._

_A liar._

_Rob won't ever trust you again._

_Artemis is sympathetic. _

_They're _all_ sympathetic. _

_They'll never think the same of you ever again. _

_Oh seriously just shut _up_. _

Wally couldn't deal with the voices. He'd deal with them once he dealt with everything else first. Like somehow waking the archer and hoping she wouldn't kill him.

_'Seemed to do the trick in Bialya…._' A small voice piped up in his head.

He sighed, deciding he may as well. "Hey, hey beautiful. Wake up." His voice was raspy and had that exhausted tone to it, but he was rewarded with a groan from the archer, her body automatically stretching as it woke. She took only a moment to process where she was, slowly looking up at him. His mouth stretched into a fake grin which she seemed to see right through.

"You alright there, Miss Thing?" His voice was slightly clearer, but still had a scratchy tone to it.

"Fine," She managed, slowly sitting up. She made a disgusted sort of sound when she saw her hair, which was a tangled mess at the back. Artemis examined her hair before sighing, flinging it over her shoulders. "And how about you, Kid Mouth?"

At least their name-calling habits didn't change. "Oh you know, totally peachy."

A comfortable silence settled between them, and Artemis was just about to speak up before she was interrupted by the door opening.

Wally didn't recognise the brunette woman. She shut the door behind her, looking up from her clipboard. "Ah good, you're both up," She began, giving them a sort of strange look. "I would have checked on you earlier, but you were both asleep. Sleep for you, Wally, is something which you'll be doing a lot of in the next week. Lots of rest and recovery for you."

Wally groaned. She was clearly stating that there was strictly no running. Artemis began to slide off from the bed, but Wally stopped her with his hand grabbing her wrist. He really didn't want to be left alone with some woman whom he barely knew. Especially when he was in a state like so.

Artemis studied him for a moment before settling back down to sit on the bed. The woman began again. "I'm Doctor Ruddick, by the way. The League's most trusted doctor, so there's no need to feel unsafe. Or Isodelle, if you prefer. Now, Wally, how exactly do you feel?"

"Peachy."

She gave him a stern look and he sighed. "Sore."

"As expected. Your injuries are to quite some extent. Certain, ah, cuts began bleeding again and you've got a lot of stitches. Sprained wrist, bruises and a couple of broken ribs also are included. The main issue was the, uh, carving."

He held up his left hand. He didn't want to hear it. Especially when she called it a _carving. _It twisted his stomach to think of the word. People carved objects, trees and paper. People didn't _carve_ into their own kids.

She immediately stopped her sentence, understanding written over her face. "You're allowed some more pain killers in about three hours. If _anything _starts hurting in particular more than what it is now, just tell someone."

Wally nodded and she took that as her que to leave. She shut the door gently behind her.

Instead of the familiar comfortable silence, an awkward one replaced it between the two teens. "So…" Artemis began, "I take it you don't want to talk about it?"

Wally didn't answer with words, but rather a raspy laugh. "No, no. I'll have to later anyway, so I may as well leave it to then."

Another awkward silence. Wally cleared his throat.

"Y-" He hesitated, and Artemis gave him a quizzical look.

He sighed and began again, "You won't think differently of me, will you?"

It wasn't a question Artemis prepared herself for. She stared at Wally and her eyes softened.

Wally was supposed to be the clown. The jokester who could cheer anybody up with a joke or just by embarrassing himself majorly. Wally was Kid Flash- a well known hero. Heroes were strong and invincible. She knew what Wally was thinking. That everyone's perspective of him would change because of something which he had no control over.

Alright, inspirational speech time. "You're strong, Wally. Just because we found out something doesn't change our perspective of you. That scar right there," She gestured to his chest, "it doesn't change you. So you shouldn't let it change you."

Wally sort of just tilted his head and studied her. She rolled her eyes, "God, you're annoying."

"There we go," Wally grinned, and was rewarded with that sentence by a (gentle) slap behind the head, "That's the Artemis I know."

She resisted rolling her eyes the second time. "Seems like you and me have another thing in common."

"Another?"

"Yeah. We've got jerks as dads."

It was nice to hear Wally laugh again.

* * *

When Artemis left, explaining that she still had her standards to keep, Wally let the smile fade. His eyes clenched, fighting off images and memories. Stubborn tears came to his eyes, but he blinked them back. His dad, as Artemis said, was a jerk. He didn't deserve any tears from Wally.

But it was hard. It was so, so hard. To know your own flesh and blood, your very own father, despised you. That he didn't care for you. That he scarred you because that was his way of 'love'. Some kind of love it was.

Sadness was replaced by anger. Anger at himself, his dad, Rob, his mum and the world. He wanted to throw things, smash things and scream at things. Scream at someone. Eventually, his anger took over his common sense. He sat up; ignoring the pain it brought him and threw the pillow which he had just slept on at the wall. His anger quelled a bit, but then flared up again when he realized that he had just caused himself more pain. His ribs screamed and his chest hurt so badly. He breathed out raggedly, clenching his eyes.

God, it couldn't be happening. Why him? Why _him?_

He didn't fight the tears. God, he felt weak. He hated feeling weak. He wanted to be up running, saving girls and the world, doing homework, studying, flirting and fighting the bad guys.

He didn't move, realizing that yeah, he had just pulled his stitches. Wanting to throw something else, he was stopped by the sound of the door opening. His eyes quickly jumped to the pillow on the floor then to the door.

Wally didn't know what he felt when his uncle stepped in to the room. Relief, safeness, happiness and joy were probably what he should have been feeling. But instead, he felt cautious and a bit fearful.

Now that he was somewhat fine, would his uncle lecture him? Would he even put Wally back in line of duty after this?

The first thought was immediately relinquished once his uncle gently hugged him. "Oh god, Kid. Jeez. I- Oh god." His uncle muttered, letting go after a quick scan. Wally smiled at his uncle who was in a bit of a crazed state. Wally could understand why.

The only sort of lecture Wally got after all was about pulling his stitches. In response, he pointed to the pillow and his uncle only raised an eyebrow, but dropped it.

"Your aunt has been called in. Believe me, I thought all the crew members would be set alight with the looks she was giving them," Barry inquired.

Wally smiled at the thought, "It's okay. I get it."

Another silence filled the room. "Where is he?" Wally finally asked.

Although he would love to continue the love-fest between himself and his uncle, anger was still lingering. It was directed at his father, and Rudy became his focus. His dad needed to pay.

He realized that, usually, this was not the type of thinking he would do. But, of course, it wasn't a usual day.

Barry faltered. "We… We don't know."

Wally nodded, expecting as much. His father was good at hiding. But maybe this time, he would be found. After all, he was being hunted down by Batman himself.

Another silence. Barry cleared his throat, opening his mouth once to say something but stopping himself. He eventually persuaded himself to continue.

"Wally… the main deal is the scar. It's permanent…"

"Well, isn't that what scars are?" The disapproving look his uncle gave him for joking immediately shut Wally up.

"Doctor Ruddick suggests that the scar was given to you before you got your powers. Please, Wally, please tell me she's wrong."

And god, how Wally wished he could tell his uncle that Isodelle was wrong. That this was just some miscalculations on her part and the scar would fade completely in time. But Wally couldn't tell him that. So he told him nothing at all. His uncle sighed, "Alright, I get it. You don't want to talk, and that's only fair."

Another silence. These silences were beginning to grate on Wally's nerves. He hated the silence.

Barry and Wally stayed in the room, smiling like nothing was wrong. Barry even told Wally of how he planned to surprise Iris for the wedding anniversary in a month's time. At one stage, he even slipped Wally a double scoop strawberry swirl ice-cream which tasted like heaven. The laughter had hurt Wally's stomach and his chest had protested majorly, but he kept on laughing. Because Wally West was meant to laugh and joke, not mope and feel sorry for himself.

Eventually, the good time came to an end.

"Kid, I'm sorry, with patrol off last night villains think I've taken the day off. There are major bank robberies…" His uncle trailed off, guilty at the thought of leaving Wally.

Wally smiled, "It's fine."

"I'm sorry kid. I- I really do wish I could stay."

"Get out the door before I get up and push you out of it."

His uncle hugged him, wishing to never let go. He finally left, and the room was filled with silence again. Wally didn't mind.

* * *

"Rudy's been tracking Wally," Dick opened up the evidence on the computer screen to show Bruce, "He's hacked into the school history to look at his reports and the list goes on from there," More typing was done, and files appeared.

"All of his hacking has been done through Internet Cafes. From history, I don't think he'd be able to pay for his own internet anyway. As soon as the domestic violence charges were laid, Mary filed divorce and got everything except Wally, which was by her choice. Rudy was behind bars for about a year but was granted bail. Trying to find the guy who actually paid the money for the bail, though. Rudy managed to get a cheap flat somewhere around in Central and has been located in numerous pubs and clubs. He also gained a few drink driving tickets. His files are more… private than anyone else's and from what I can find; someone is working to keep him under protection."

Bruce leaned forward, interlocking his fingers below his chin. "And your lead?"

Dick rubbed his eyes, tired from the events which had occurred. "He goes to the pub every Friday night around seven-" He was cut off by the sound of something beeping.

Barry's voice entered the Cave through the small communicator, "He's awake."

"Good, we need some answers," Batman's gruff voice replied to the speedster, who just seemed to just sigh and turn the communicator off.

"Bruce, you can't be serious! He's just been domestically _abused_ and you want him in for questioning?" Dick whirled on his legal guardian, disbelief written all over his face.

"I am _very _serious. If Rudy appears at the pub tomorrow, seeing as it's Friday, I need all the evidence I can get."

"Bruce, please! I know he's distracting himself from it now to relieve himself from the pain, but when you begin questioning him you'll be pulling him right into something he _doesn't_ want to be involved. He won't be able to deal with it, Bruce, so why try it anyway?"

Bruce sighed, irritated. His ward was on to something, as much as it pained him to admit. But he _needed _answers and evidence. And he _needed_ more information on that scar. But maybe pushing the boy wasn't the best idea, especially since the boy didn't want to be pushed.

"You can talk to him," Bruce declared, "And get some answers."

"No way. Go get your own answers through someone else. I'm going to go talk to him, but not for answers. I'm going to talk to him and be the great uplifting best friend who should already be there right now."

Before Bruce knew it, Dick was storming out of the bat-cave. Dick was tired and exhausted and more than a little snappy, Bruce knew. His best friend had also kept some major secrets from him, and to find out like… well, _this _was probably more overwhelming than anything else.

Dick was, after all, only thirteen years old. Bruce had to remind himself that he had been through harder stuff than most people around the world and was only just beginning his life. Bruce knew he had been pushy and was slightly guilty over the fact, but he still needed those answers.

Bruce Wayne took one last glance at the evidence on the screen before closing it and pulling over his cowl. Batman was now looking for answers.

And he _would _get them.

* * *

Hey guys. I'm so sorry about the wait. I'm _way_ out of practice (I've had to trash this chapter about 4 times before I was somewhat satisfied.)

I've been at Nationals and another home state competition, so I've been a bit busy. I should be okay now with updates because it's the 7 weeks holiday.  
I know this chapter probably isn't that great, but hey, I decided to go for it.

In case I don't update within the next week or so, **MERRY CHRISTMAS to you all. I wish you all the best and hope you all stay safe. Enjoy the holidays! **

(And if you don't celebrate Christmas, then happy holidays!)

Oh, and anybody notice the change in my pen name? ;)

-Kayla ^^

(Please review? :))


End file.
